Ethics in Action for Sustainable Development PDF
Preview Ethics in Action for Sustainable Development
ETHICS IN ACTION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Ethics in Action Meeting on Education, Casina Pio IV, Vatican City, October 2017 ETHICS IN ACTION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT EDITED BY JEFFREY D. SACHS, MARCELO SÁNCHEZ SORONDO, OWEN FLANAGAN, WILLIAM VENDLEY, ANTHONY ANNETT, AND JESSE THORSON FOREWORD BY POPE FRANCIS AND ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW Columbia University Press New York This book was made possible by the remarkable leadership of Monsignor Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, who hosted and guided the Ethics in Action initiative during his tenure as Chancellor of the Pontifical Academies. Ms. Gabriella Marino (Pontifical Academies) brilliantly coordinated the meetings that provided the foundation of this volume, in collaboration with Prof. Anthony Annett and Ms. Sharon Paculor (Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University). Ethics in Action was supported by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Religions for Peace, the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, the University of Notre Dame, the Blue Chip Foundation, the Fetzer Institute, Ms. Christina Lee Brown, and Ms. Jacqueline Corbelli. Columbia University Press Publishers Since 1893 New York Chichester, West Sussex cup.columbia.edu Copyright © 2022 Columbia University Press All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Sachs, Jeffrey, editor. Title: Ethics in action for sustainable development / edited by Jeffrey D. Sachs, Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, Owen Flanagan, William Vendley, Anthony Annett, and Jesse Thorson. Description: New York : Columbia University Press, [2022] | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2021052015 (print) | LCCN 2021052016 (ebook) | ISBN 9780231202862 (hardback) | ISBN 9780231202879 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9780231554756 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Sustainable development—Moral and ethical aspects. | Sustainable development—Philosophy. | Social justice. Classification: LCC HC79.E5 E755 2022 (print) | LCC HC79.E5 (ebook) | DDC 338.9/27—dc23/eng/20220113 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021052015 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021052016 Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper. Printed in the United States of America Cover design: Julia Kushnirsky Cover painting: Eugène Delacroix, Untergehende Sonne CONTENTS Foreword, by Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew ix Introduction, by Jeffrey D. Sachs and Owen Flanagan 1 PART ONE: ADVANCING THE COMMON GOOD: SHARED VIRTUES AND VISIONS OF WELL-BEING!9 1. The Vision and Values of the Sustainable Development Goals, by Jeffrey D. Sachs 11 2. A Social Movement to Make the Last First, by Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo 28 3. Virtue Across Traditions: Common Ground?, by Owen Flanagan 34 4. Secular Ethics, Moral Capital, and the Sustainable Development Goals, by Owen Flanagan 58 5. The Current Resurgence of Interest in the Civil Economy Paradigm, by Stefano Zamagni 72 PART TWO: RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS AND THE COMMON GOOD!81 6. The Confucian Conception of the Common Good in Contemporary China, by Anna Sun 83 vi Contents 7. Hinduism: “Consider the common good in all actions,” by Anantanand Rambachan 92 8. Judaism and the Common Good, by David Rosen 102 9. Buddhism and the Common Good, by Kyoichi Sugino 111 10. Greek Orthodoxy and the Common Good, by John D. Zizioulas and Jesse Thorson 121 11. Catholicism and the Common Good, by Daniel G. Groody 129 12. Islam and the Common Good, by Hamza Yusuf 136 PART THREE: AN ETHICAL CONSENSUS ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: POVERTY!143 13. The Challenge of Global Poverty, by Jeffrey D. Sachs 157 14. Ethical Actions to End Poverty, by Anthony Annett 163 15. Community-Based Poverty Reduction, by Jennifer Gross 167 16. Judaism and Poverty, by David Rosen 173 PART FOUR: AN ETHICAL CONSENSUS ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: PEACE!179 17. On Peace and a Moral Framework for Statecraft, by Jeffrey D. Sachs 186 18. Advancing Shared Well-Being as a Multireligious Vision of Positive Peace, by William F. Vendley 194 19. Building Peace: Strategies, Resources, and Religions, by R. Scott Appleby 215 PART FIVE: AN ETHICAL CONSENSUS ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: MIGRATION!223 20. The Drivers of Migration, by Jeffrey D. Sachs 229 21. A Muslim Perspective on Refugees, by Hamza Yusuf 235 22. Migration and Refugees: A Christian Perspective, by Daniel G. Groody 238 PART SIX: AN ETHICAL CONSENSUS ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: BUSINESSES AS AGENTS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT!245 23. Toward a Laudato si’ Coherent Corporate Responsibility Management, by Klaus M. Leisinger 254 24. Sustainable Investment and Ethics in Action, by Kerry Kennedy 261 2.5 The Case for Business in Achieving the SDGs, by Jacqueline Corbelli 266 Contents vii PART SEVEN: AN ETHICAL CONSENSUS ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: EDUCATION!271 26. The Challenge of Education, by Jeffrey D. Sachs 277 27. What Will It Take to Meet the Sustainable Development Goal for Education?, by Radhika Iyengar 283 28. “Only Connect”: Neuroscience, Technology, and Global Literacy, by Maryanne Wolf 289 PART EIGHT: AN ETHICAL CONSENSUS ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: CLIMATE JUSTICE!297 29. Climate Disruption: A Personal Journey Into the Ethical and Moral Issues, by Veerabhadran Ramanathan 303 30. The Religious Case for Environmental Care, by Emmanuel Adamakis 308 31. Health Justice Is Climate Justice, by Ted Smith and Christina Lee Brown 312 32. Environmental Injustice: How Treaties Undermine the Right to a Healthy Environment, by Lisa Sachs, Ella Merrill, and Lise Johnson 316 33. Ethics in Action and Divestment, by Erin Lothes 327 PART NINE: AN ETHICAL CONSENSUS ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: MODERN SLAVERY, HUMAN TRAFFICKING, AND ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOR THE POOR AND VULNERABLE!333 34. Actualizing Justice for the Poor, by Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo 345 35. Multireligious Action Against Modern Slavery and Trafficking, by William F. Vendley 351 36. Violence Against the Poor and Ethics in Action, by Sharon Cohn Wu 360 PART TEN: AN ETHICAL CONSENSUS ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: INDIGENOUS PEOPLES!367 37. Care of the Earth, Care of the Soul: Indigenous Communities and Inner Climate Change, by T8aminik (Dominique) Rankin, Marie-Josée Tardif, and Daniel G. Groody 375 38. Practical Approaches to Sustainable Development in Indigenous Communities and Traditional Populations of the Amazon, by Virgilio Viana 380 viii Contents PART ELEVEN: AN ETHICAL CONSENSUS ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: CORRUPTION!385 39. Understanding and Combatting Corruption, by Sean Hagan 392 40. The Role of Institutions in Fighting Corruption, by Jermyn Brooks 400 PART TWELVE: AN ETHICAL CONSENSUS ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: THE FUTURE OF WORK!407 41. Unions and the Future of Work, by Sharan Burrow 416 42. The Coming AI Revolution: Is This Time Different?, by Carl Benedikt Frey 421 43. Slow but Sure: Cooperatives and Integral Ecology, by Nathan Schneider 425 44. The End of Work as We Know It: A Muslim Perspective, by Hamza Yusuf 431 Conclusion: Toward a Moral Economy, by Anthony Annett and Jesse Thorson 439 List of Contributors 445 Index 455 FOREWORD On September 1, 2017, we issued a “Joint Message on the World Day of Prayer for Creation,” in which we wrote: The urgent call and challenge to care for creation are an invitation for all of humanity to work toward sustainable and integral development. . . . We urgently appeal to those in positions of social and economic, as well as political and cultural, responsibility to hear the cry of the earth and to attend to the needs of the marginalized, but above all to respond to the plea of millions and support the consensus of the world for the healing of our wounded creation. We are convinced that there can be no sincere and enduring resolution to the challenge of the ecological crisis and climate change unless the response is concerted and collective, unless the responsibility is shared and accountable, unless we give priority to solidarity and service.1 In this spirit, we hope that people in all parts of the world—especially students and young leaders—will contemplate and draw on the lessons and wisdom offered by the many contributors to Ethics in Action for Sustainable Development. In the writings in this volume, scholars and practitioners from a wide variety of religious traditions and academic disciplines find common ground in defending the Creation—our common home (oikos)—and in calling for human dignity and economic justice for all peoples across faiths, cultures, traditions, nations, and geographies. In these contributions, we see how the diverse religious traditions regard human beings as made body and soul in God’s image, as part of the Creation. x Foreword It is our heartfelt conviction that there are profound connections among all living things and all human beings.2 Therefore, we concur with the contribu- tors to this volume that the world’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by all 193 member states of the United Nations, can help us to find a global path forward for the common good, and a method of worldwide collab- oration to address the pressing social, economic, and ecological challenges of our age. The SDGs help to nurture a strong sense of the common good. They draw attention especially to the suffering of the poor and the suffering of the planet. From a religious perspective, “The way we relate to nature as creation directly reflects the way we relate to God as Creator. There can be no distinction between concern for human welfare, protection of the environment, and care for our salvation.”3 Jesus taught, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Mt 22.37–40). In our estimation, the pursuit of the global common good and social justice can be understood as a faithful response to this teaching. We may say that the world’s shared commitment to sustainable development is a way to foster love toward neighbor and Creation. Yet though people of goodwill everywhere yearn for the common good and social justice, we observe that the prevailing culture of hate, greed, arms race, and power that is not at the service of the poor is taking the world in the oppo- site direction: an upward spiral of war, violence, poverty, forced migration, and environmental destruction. We must, with all our hearts, speak out against this hate and violence, which is of course a dire negation of love, the common good, and social justice. We must, above all, recognize humanity’s current peril: Step by step, we are moving towards catastrophe. Piece by piece the world risks becoming the theater of a unique Third World War. We are moving towards it as if it were unavoidable. But we must forcefully repeat: No, it is not inevitable! No, war is not inescapable! When we allow ourselves to be devoured by this monster represented by war, when we allow this monster to raise its head and guide our actions, everyone loses, we destroy God’s creatures, we commit sacri- lege and prepare a future of death for our children and grandchildren.4 We see these rising dangers in a pandemic that has claimed the lives of mil- lions while leaving the poor without access to life-saving vaccines and medicines. We see the rising dangers in the multiple ecological crises—climate change, hab- itat destruction, and wanton pollution—that have all intensified in recent years. We see the rising dangers most starkly in the war against Ukraine, which esca- lates with frenzied calls for even more destructive weapons, and with no urgent call for peace, negotiations, and conciliation on behalf of the main actors.
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